IPL 2023: Match 42, Mumbai Indians (MI) Predicted Playing XI vs Rajasthan Royals

After winning three consecutive games in IPL 2023, Mumbai Indians’ campaign has gone astray as they lost their previous two fixtures against Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans, respectively. In both matches, MI bowlers were hammered for above 200 runs, and the batters failed to chase down the target. MI’s batters were brought down to their knees in their last fixture against GT as they were 59/5 after in 10.4 overs chasing 208. 

The Rohit Sharma-led side is currently ranked in the eighth spot in the IPL points table with three wins from seven games. With the tournament at its halfway stage, the five-time champions need to regroup quickly as they prepare to face table-toppers Rajasthan Royals on Sunday, April 30, at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Beating the runner-ups of the last edition will take a herculean effort from the home team, and they will have to field their strongest playing XI against RR.

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Here's Mumbai Indians’ predicted XI against Rajasthan Royals

Openers: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk)

Captain Rohit Sharma departed cheaply against Gujarat as he scored just two off eight balls. Rohit has scored 181 runs in the season so far from seven innings at an average of 25.85. The Hitman led his team from the front against Delhi Capitals in their third game as he scored a brilliant 65 off 45 balls and helped his team win their first game of the season. MI once again need their captain to lead from the front, and he will be desperate for another big knock against RR.

Ishan Kishan has scored 183 runs in seven innings so far and has registered just one half-century in the season. The southpaw has also failed to give flying starts to his side, as he has a strike rate of 129.78 in the season so far. It’s high time Kishan and Rohit score at the top for MI and set the tone for the rest of the batters in the team.

Middle-Order: Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera

Suryakumar Yadav has looked completely off-colour this season, having scored just one half-century from seven innings. Mumbai relies heavily on their star batter to keep the momentum going in the middle overs. However, Suryakumar’s failure has brought pressure on the inexperienced youngsters, namely Tilak Varma and Nehal Wadhera. At the halfway stage of the tournament, it’s high time that ‘SKY’ finds his form to help MI make a remarkable comeback.

After having an incredible debut season in IPL 2022, Varma has continued his form in the ongoing edition as well; as he’s scored 219 runs from 7 innings and is the highest run scorer for MI this season. After getting dismissed for just two in the last game, Varma will be hungry for runs against RR and will aim for a big score against the table toppers.

Nehal Wadhera once again gave glimpses of his big-hitting prowess against GT, scoring 40 off just 21 balls. The southpaw has batted at a strike rate of 171.79 in the tournament so far, which is the highest for MI. The Punjab-born youngster needs a big score against his name to announce his arrival in the grandest T20 league in his debut season.

Tim David hasn’t lived up to his reputation in the season so far, as he’s scored just 113 runs from seven innings at an average of 28.25 and a strike rate of 143.03. The Australian international was dismissed for a two-ball duck against GT and will be eager to make amends against RR.

All-rounder: Cameron Green

After a few quiet outings in the season, Green found his form as he scored back-to-back half-centuries against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings. In seven innings so far, the 23-year-old has scored 199 runs at an average of 49.75 and a strike rate of 149.62. The seam all-rounder has picked five wickets in seven matches so far. Green looked in good touch against GT as he scored 33 off 26 balls and will look to continue his form in the upcoming game against RR.

Bowlers: Piyush Chawla, Arjun Tendulkar, Jason Behrendorff, Kumar Kartikeya

The 34-year-old veteran Chawla has brought his vast experience to the fore and is the highest wicket-taker for his side so far. Chawla has picked up 11 wickets from seven innings at an average of 17.45 and an economy of 7.11. The wrist-spinner was once again the pick of the bowlers for his side vs GT, as he picked 2/34 in his four-over spell. Chawla would hope to replicate his performance against RR.

Junior Tendulkar had a great outing against GT as he finished with figures of 1/9 in two overs. The southpaw has picked up three wickets in the tournament so far and scored 13 off 9 in the only batting opportunity he got against GT. The 23-year-old will look for another good performance with both bat and ball against RR.

Kumar Kartikeya has the second-best economy in the side among bowlers (7.87) and has picked two wickets in two matches. With every other bowler, except Chawla leaking runs at over nine runs per over, MI need someone to keep things quiet in the middle. Kartikeya got the prized scalp of Shubman Gill against GT and will hope to pick important wickets for his side against RR as well.

Jason Behrendorff is the second-highest wicket-taker for his side, with eight wickets to his name in from six games at an average of 24.87. However, the left-arm seamer has leaked runs at an economy of 9.95 and will hope to keep it under check against RR.

Mumbai Indians (MI) probable XI:

Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Kumar Kartikeya, Arjun Tendulkar, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff

Mumbai Indians (MI) probable impact players:

Jofra Archer, Vishnu Vinod, Shams Mulani, Sandeep Warrier, Ramandeep Singh